This invention relates to an apparatus which is used to estimate the aesthetic appearance and the sense of touch of seat top material such as, pile fabrics, embossed fabrics, woven or knitted fabrics, artificial leather, synthetic leather and the like, by spreading and attaching a sample of these material to the chair body to be upholstered.
A seat top material is estimated and selected by the purchaser by imagining the appearance of chair upholstered with it and considering whether it is suitable for the upholstery. However, in the case of such seat top material as pile fabric, embossed fabric and artificial leather, where the nap or fluff tends to incline toward the same direction and an irregular reflection occurs on the surface, their appearances changes in color tone either light or dark. On the other hand, the surface of the seat portion and backrest of the chair is not always flat, but generally curved as in the passenger car seat and the edge of the seat which is higher than the center portion. For these reasons, it is necessary to observe the appearance of the many samples of seat top material from various viewpoints and to consider from all sides and conditions the variation in color tone imagining the actually used state.
As mentioned above, according to the prior art, a fertile imagination is required to estimate and select the best seat top material. But, it is impossible to expect such an ability from every purchaser. Especially, it is very difficult to select from different colors the material used for a two tone color chair of which the center and the border of the seat portion and the backrest are of different colors.
Thus, a trial seat has to be produced by sewing each sample of seat top material onto the seat portion and the backrest. However, this is not only very troublesome but also uneconomical, because the trial seats with the sample of seat top material have to be discarded when not actually used. Moreover, it is troublesome to transport and display the trial chairs upholstered in a sample of seat top material.